Take youth on team treasure hunts. Ask critical questions along the way to solve a problem. With each treasure is a clue to solving the problem. You can have youth brainstorm the solutions as well as evaluate needs, resources, tools, and steps for each solution. Then they can write the clues and leave them for …
Tic Tac Toe boards give youth the opportunity to participate in multiple tasks that allow them to practice skills they’ve learned or to demonstrate and extend their understanding of concepts. To create a Tic Tac Toe board, identify the outcomes and instructional focus of a unit of study. Then use assessment data to discover learning …
Share individual stories of people in need. Identify what everyone can contribute. Where could we find the needed materials? Together as a group, deliver the donated items to a nearby organization in wagons, if available. Work with the accepting agency to provide further information about the services and supports they provide (examples: donation to a …
An activity that allows for exploration of diversity and elimination of stereotypes. Ask each person to write down three things that no one would know about them just by looking at them. Try to include one thing that makes you vulnerable, i.e. a fear. Then participants share what they wrote with a partner or part …
An alternative assessment method that can be used with all grades and subject areas. In the tic-tac-toe 9-square grid, list a variety of activities and projects (simple, more difficult, and those that would take days to complete). Youth then select any run of three squares: vertical, horizontal or diagonal, letting them own their choices. In …
Show pictures and/or video of certain situations at school and in the surrounding neighborhood. Examples include: seeing garbage on the floor, an elderly person dropping their cane, a person not able to get through a door because their hands are full, a child crying or looking sad, or classmates arguing or fighting. Hold a classroom …
Adult writes at the top of a blank paper, “I’m so grateful that if I were a monster created by a mad scientist, my name would be Thankenstein.” Give each child a photocopy of this sheet, and have them draw their (happy) monster, then have them complete the sentence, “I appreciate you, (name), because ________________ …
Ask youth to critically think about how others might respond to their words and actions. “What would they say or think if you did or said _____?” Expand the effect of the activity by asking, “What do you think your teacher would say about that decision?” or, “Your parent or coach, or other influential and …
Set aside times during the day when no one in the family touches technology. Turn off all cell phones, televisions, computers, etc. Youth who are always engaged in technology are more impulsive and rarely have time for self-reflection, which is at the core of mindfulness. If your family is technology dependent, intentionally create more quiet …
Show youth a variety of pictures of celebrations involving young people from around the world. Place cut-outs of known children/students into the celebration picture (make sure to rotate the pictures). Have the youth guess where the celebration is and what the kids are celebrating. What is the significance of the celebration? Do we have a …